


On the outside always looking in.

by twilightwonderer



Category: Holby City
Genre: Angst, Domestic Violence, Emotional Manipulation, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Evan is a 🐍, Family, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Panic Attacks, mental health
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-07
Updated: 2019-09-04
Packaged: 2020-04-12 11:34:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,026
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19131211
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/twilightwonderer/pseuds/twilightwonderer
Summary: Things with Evan are far from perfect for Chloe. With her far too scared to speak up, Chloe soon finds herself in a dark and lonely place, will someone spot the signs and help her before things get worse and if so, who will it be?[Trigger Warning for descriptions of abuse/violence, mental health and self harm].





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Storyline continuity: Set after 'The Wrong Horse' (Episode 20). I wrote this after 'Unredeemed' (Episode 21) aired so I will refer to some parts from that episode. This won't yet include events from 'Bloodline' (Episode 23) as at the time of writing this chapter I hadn't seen that episode. So if there are any similarities, these are an honest coincidence.
> 
> Trigger Warning for mentions and descriptions of abuse/violence, mental health and self harm.
> 
> Italic font is used to represent flashbacks.

"Chloe are you ready?" Evan shouted up the stairs. "We're going to be late"

Chloe Godard was stood in front of the mirror in the bathroom. "I'm coming" she replied before quickly putting the various make up items back into her cosmetics bag. She took a second to double check that the forming bruise on her right cheekbone was well hidden and gently pressed it with her finger, she winced. The pain reminding her of the previous night's events.

...

_Chloe's checked the caller ID of her phone. It was her Mum. Evan, who was sat next to her on the sofa, looked at her with a annoyed glare._

" _Should I answer it?" She asked him._

" _Do you think that's wise?" He said in a tone that Chloe understood to mean that she shouldn't answer it. She silenced the call._

" _She means well" Chloe told him, feeling guilty for ignoring another call from her Mum._

" _Yes, well, we both she doesn't have that affect does she"_

_The phone beeped indicating a text message had been received. She opened it and read it, with Evan looking at the screen over her shoulder, 'It's just me, can you please let me know you're ok? I'm starting to get worried. Love, Mum x'_

" _Just ignore her" he told her sternly._

" _She's my mum. I can't ignore her forever" she objected._

" _I'm just trying to look out for you" Evan spat, he stood up and snatched the phone from her hands._

" _Evan give me my phone" Chloe was now stood up too._

" _I don't understand why you feel the need to object to everything I say! I'm just trying to keep you safe!" He held her phone firmly. Chloe looked back at him, she tried hard to hide the fear that was rising within her._

" _Evan please" she pleaded._

" _No"_

" _Look, I'll turn it off, I'll ignore her. Just give me my phone back" she went to take the phone out of his hands._

" _I said NO"_

_Before she knew it Chloe felt Evan's hand make forceful contact with her cheek. Her hand instinctively drew up to cover it, she stood there in pure shock, she wanted to run but fear made her freeze to the spot. As her hurt gaze met Evan's enraged one she couldn't deny that she was petrified of whatever was going to happen next. His hand grabbed ahold of her arm, he stepped closer to her._

" _Evan please don't" she pleaded, her voice breaking. She wasn't sure what she was asking him not to do. He was very unpredictable when he was upset._

" _Don't what?" He spat "Care? I'm only trying to look out for you and this is how you treat me!?" He was angry._

" _I'm sorry" she looked away from him and tried to ignore the pain from his grip._

" _Yes well you will be. Because if I get fed up of you then what? Who is going to be there for you then? Who is going to stop you from going completely crazy?"_

_She made sure not to look at him or move, she didn't want to do anything else to anger him. "I'm sorry" she cried,_

" _You should be! I'm going for a walk before I do something I really regret" He told her as he pushed her away, she fell back into the sofa. She held her breath until she heard the front door slam shut. It was only when she heard the familiar sound of the door locking that she released her breath, drew her knees up to her chest and cried._

_..._

"Chloe, come on" he shouted again to which she quickly headed downstairs. Evan was stood at the bottom of the stairs holding a long sleeved top in his hand. "You'll need this" he handed it to her. Without saying a word she nodded and took it, understanding what he was telling her to do. "I'm sorry about last night, but it only happened because I care and I don't want you to be hurt by her again"

"I know" Chloe nodded. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have ignored your advice"

"Are you ready?" He asked to which she nodded.

* * *

Chloe couldn't help but feel relieved that she had been asked to stay on Darwin today, she really didn't want to face Ange or Dom today, or Evan for that matter. Jac had given her 5 minutes to get changed before she was needed to join her in theatre, so she headed to the locker room to change into scrubs. She hung her jacket up and took the long sleeve top out of her bag before quickly swapping her jeans for the navy blue uniform and removing her jumper. It was at that moment when the door opened and in walked Carole Copeland. She quickly put the long sleeved top on and prayed that Carole hadn't seen her scars, the marks on her arm or a set of fading bruises from last week.

"Sorry, I didn't realise you were in here" Carole apologised, pretending that she hadn't noticed the scars or bruising. She was concerned, she had heard that Chloe had uncharacteristically taken a lot of time off over the past couple of weeks and knew that both Dom and Ange had concerns "I just came to put this box in here for Adrian"

"It's ok" Chloe told her, with a slight stutter. She could tell by the look on Carole's face that she had noticed and gave her a pleading look.

"What happened?" She asked her.

"It's nothing, I fell" Chloe lied, she quickly grabbed a navy top off the shelves, put it on and headed for the door. "Sorry, I've got to be in theatre" she told her before rushing off.

Carole frowned, she was no doctor but those bruises didn't look like anything you would get from a fall. And the scars worried her too. Chloe's demeanor reminded her a lot of what Dominic was like during his difficulties with Isaac, and she wasn't going to let Chloe suffer in silence if something similar was happening to her. Without a second thought she headed straight to Keller to find Ange and Dom.

* * *

"Ah, Sacha. Have you seen Ange and Dom?" She interrupted his conversation with the male locum. "Sorry, it's about Chloe so it's really important".

"Sorry Evan" Sacha apologised before turning his attention to Carol. "Ange went outside for a break and Dom is in theatre"

"Wait what about Chloe?" Evan stopped her.

Carole frowned. "I'm sorry but who are you?"

"Evan Crowhurst, I'm actually Chloe's boyfriend" he held out his hand to her. "So whatever you're going to say to them you can say to me" She looked at his hand then at his face and for some strange reason found herself instantly was reminded of Isaac. He had that butter-wouldn't-melt look about him and an over exaggerated look of faked concern etched across his face. She told herself that wasn't going to fall for this again.

"I'm good thanks" Carole rejected his offer of a handshake and shot him a dirty look. "You said Ange was outside didn't you?" She checked with Sacha, who was looking at the scene before him with a lost expression. He nodded and Carole quickly left the ward with purpose.


	2. Chapter 2

“I’m not letting you use my vape again” Ange told Carole as she became aware of her presence. “Before you ask”

“That’s not why I’m here” Carole was nervous, she couldn’t help but feel guilty that she was about to break the younger woman’s heart again. First, it was her finding out about Dominic being her son and now this. As a mother, she knew that telling Ange was she was about to say would upset her gravely.

“Carole is everything ok?” She had noticed the older woman’s anxious demeanour.

“No, it’s not. I need to talk to you” Ange nodded and moved to make space on the bench, she looked at Carole with a concerned expression.

“Is it about Dominic?” Ange asked. “Because I spoke to him this morning and he seems to be doing well, he seems to have managed to make sense of everything”

“It’s not about Dazzle sweetheart” She told her with a saddened tone.

“I don’t understand-“

“I’m worried about your Chloe” She interrupted.

“Why has she said something?”

Carole shook her head. “It’s not what she’s said, in fact, I haven’t really had a chance to ask her about it, but I’ve got a really bad feeling about it all and-“

“A bad feeling about what?” Ange was starting to worry, she had her own concerns about Chloe but no matter how hard she had tried to get through to her and talk, she had been told to ‘just give her some space’.

“I, well, I was on Darwin earlier and I accidentality walked in on her changing. Obviously, I didn’t mean to. But, well she has these injuries on her stomach and side. She told me she fell, but I don’t quite believe her and-“

Ange stopped her by holding up her hand. She ran a hand through her hair and sighed. She knew that finding out about Dom had upset her and bought a lot of difficult emotions back for Chloe “I know about it, well I didn’t know she had started doing it again but, I know”

“You know” Carole was surprised “And you’re just allowing him to get away with it. To do that to your daughter”

“Wait. What are  _you_  on about?” Ange was surprised by Carole’s uncharacteristic anger.

“Evan’s hurting her!”

“He’s doing what?” Ange jumped to her feet.

“You didn’t know?”

Ange could only shake her head.

“So, when you said you knew?”

She sat back down and rubbed her forehead with her hand. “I thought you were on about her self-harming” Her tone was heartbroken.

“Oh. Sorry” Carole wasn’t sure what else to say. “Is that what the scars are?” Ange nodded.

“So, you think Evan’s hurting her?”

Carole nodded. “She’s got bruises. Like someone’s had hold of her. And her cheek looked like it could be bruised but she has make-up on so I can’t tell”

“I’ll kill him” Ange was shaking with anger. It was an anger Carole knew all too well. She turned to face Carole, with tears in her eyes. “How have I missed this?”

“They hide it well” Carole told her in a sincere tone. “I missed all the signs with Dominic-“

“I’m a doctor though” She objected. “I deal with this sort of thing day in day out, but I miss the signs with my own daughter”

“It’s not your fault” Carole was firm.

“What do I do though? She isn’t even talking to me. How do I save her and stop this from happening when she won’t even pick up the phone when I call her?”

In a comforting action, the slightly older woman took Ange’s hand in hers. “Let me help” she offered to which Ange nodded.

“You two aren’t planning any more life-shattering surprises, are you?” Dom’s voice spoke from behind them, interrupting them, both women turned around. His previously sarcastic but ever-so sassy tone immediately resolved upon noticing their facial expressions. “What is it?” He asked. “What’s happened?”

Ange sighed, she was so lost right now, her daughter was going through an unimaginable amount of suffering right now and she had no idea on how to help her. “He’s hurting her Dom. He’s hurting my little girl and I have no clue on what to do about it”

Dom walked around the bench before sitting down in-between Carole and Ange. “Evan?” He asked directing his question to Carole. She nodded. “How? How do you know?”

“She has bruises Dazzle, I saw them. And she’s acting differently. Like-“ Carole informed him, she paused unsure of whether or not to finish what she was about to say. She didn’t want to hurt her son.

“Like I was?” He guessed the rest of her sentence. She nodded again. “It’s ok, you can talk about it. It would be weird not to”

“I should have noticed. This is all my fault” Ange was on the verge of tears.

“How can you notice something link this when she isn’t even speaking to you?” Dom reasoned with her in an attempt to provide her with some comfort. “And, if we are right about this then she’ll be hiding it. I doubt she even realises what’s happening”

“There’s no way she thinks this is right. I have not raised my daughter to think that being treated like this is normal.” She couldn’t help but blame herself.

Carole looked at the ground leaving Dom to disrupt Ange’s line of thought “It has nothing to do with how you’re raised”.

Ange looked at Dom then at Carole apologetically. “Sorry. I didn’t mean-“

“I know. It’s fine” Carole told her.

“Deep down she’ll know it’s wrong but when it becomes your life and you can’t see a way out; you end up making excuses and blaming yourself. It’s a dark and lonely place” He allowed himself to think back to how he felt when Isaac was abusing him, he couldn’t help but think that this was an opportunity for all of that bad to be used in a good way.

“So, what do I do?” Ange asked him with a defeated tone. She was desperate for him to have the answer. For someone to hand her an instruction manual of how to handle this situation and save her daughter.

“Ok, so first, it’s not what do you do. It’s what do we do. You’re not alone in this” Dom took Ange’s hand in his.

“Our Dazzle is right” Carole leant over Dom and placed her own hand on top of theirs.

Ange looked up at them both with a sad but appreciative smile. “So, what do  _we_  do?” She asked them, placing a degree of emphasis on the word we.

“I don’t know, but we’ve got to do something” Dom was certain. “She’s family and she needs our help”


	3. Chapter 3

An hour had passed since Ange, Dom's and Carolee's conversation about their concerns for Chloe, a huge worry for each person was that they were all struggling to think of the best way to help her, for each idea came a problem. Ange wanted nothing more than to be able to hug away the pain and protect her, much like she had done when she was younger, but with Chloe not only being much older now and also making a point of avoiding any contact with her completely this seemed to be an impossible solution and fighting the maternal urge to do this was incredibly painful. Any further discussions between the trio was interrupted by two very poorly timed pager notifications that instructed both Ange and Dom that they were needed on YAU.

"Just keep an eye on their obs, if they change, we'll reconsider the surgery, but as for now, I don't think it's our best option" Ange told Essie. "Unless Mr Copeland has any objections" she checked with him, to which he shook his head, indicating his agreement with her conclusion. The two doctors stood side by side and watched as the nurse returned to the patient.

"Do you think it'll be any help if I try to talk to her?" Dom asked.

"Her minds made up, she doesn't want the operation unless it's absolutely necessary" Ange replied.

"I meant Chloe" Dom informed

"Oh" Ange's expression fell, the emergency with the patient had proved to be a somewhat welcome distraction to the situation. "I don't know, maybe I should try first"

"She's talking to you again then?" He assumed.

Ange shook her head. "Nope, in fact, she makes a point of walking in the opposite direction every time I'm near her"

"Sorry" He apologised.

"It's not your fault" She told him firmly. "None of this is your fault"

He smiled sadly, as much as the current situation was far from ideal, he really needed to hear that. "She isn't ignoring me entirely, it's worth a shot, right?"

Ange nodded all-be-it reluctantly. "It's not like we have millions of options"

"I've got to head up to Darwin to take some notes up that the porters left behind earlier, it'll give me reason to be on the ward?" Dom suggested as he headed over to the desk to find the notes, closely followed by Ange.

"Just be gentle with her" Ange pleaded "I don't have a clue what frame of mind she's in right now but if our suspicions are right, she can't be in a good place"

"She's my sister" Dom replied. "I don't want to hurt her"

"I know"

...

Dom stepped out of the lift and onto Darwin, his eyes quickly scanned the ward looking for Chloe, he was hoping to turn his task of bringing the patient notes to the ward into an excuse to talk to Chloe. After not finding her in the reception area he began walking towards the staff room. As luck would have its Chloe was sat at the table working on a laptop. He knocked on the door.

"I've got Mr Phillip's notes" He told her brandishing the folder.

"Thanks" Chloe said coldly not looking up from the laptop. "Just put them on reception, he's Ms Naylor's patient, not mine so they aren't much use to me"

Dom took another breath before stepping into the room. "Can I speak to you?"

"Looks like you already are. I'll make sure Jac gets the notes" She told him, she really didn't feel like talking to him right now, her anxiety was through the roof as it was, and she hadn't had the best night sleep after what had happened with Evan.

"It's important" He told her.

"I'm busy, can it wait?" She told him, it wasn't an entire lie, she had been trying to work on the proposal for her research project, but truth be told she hadn't been able to focus.

"For crying out loud Chloe" Dom was frustrated, he stepped forward, so he was entirely in the room and shut the door behind him. "You can't keep ignoring us, this isn't fair"

"I haven't got time for whatever dramatics are going on right now, I need to get this finished"

Dom tossed the notes onto the table. The sound of the stack of paper hitting the table made her flinch, something Dom noticed. The tension in the room seemed to be increasing with every tick that emanated from the clock on the wall, Chloe didn't dare look up at him, instead choosing to keep her gaze fixed upon the laptop screen. It wasn't an action done out of ignorance, but something she did to hide the ever so familiar feeling of tightening in her chest and rising anxiety. 'Just calm down' she repeated the mantra in her head. 'Just breathe you stupid girl'. After a couple of shaky but well-disguised breaths, she looked up at him. "So, what do you want? What's so important?"

"We're worried about you" He told her. "Me. Carolee. Your Mum"

'See, I told you they were talking about you' the voice told her. 'I wonder what they're planning now' She shook her head in a desperate attempt to quieten down the noise in her head.

"Good for you. I'm glad you've been enjoying your little family gatherings" she told him coldly. She hadn't intended for her tone to come across so harsh, but she was desperate for this conversation to end.

"Chloe stop this" Dom told her. "This isn't you"

"You barely know me Dom" She spat. "Just because there is a genetic relation doesn't mean you know me, so stop pretending"

"That isn't true" He told her softly, making no attempt to hide how her comment hurt him. She looked back at him apologetically and was about to apologise when Dom spoke. "This is actually ridiculous" Dom exclaimed. In a split-second decision, he turned around and locked the door. If she wasn't going to speak to him willingly, he was going to show her some tough love.

Her head shot up as she heard the door lock. "Dom, what are you doing?" She asked, no longer able to disguise her panic. She had previously been able to remain in control before, the unlocked door reassured her she had an escape route, but now that had gone, and it was all becoming too much.

"Carolee told us about the bruises Chloe" He was frustrated but managed to control his tone. "Talk to me, what's going on?" He sat down on a chair opposite her and went to take her hand in his.

She pulled her hands away and pulled her arms around herself protectively, the small room started to feel as though it was getting smaller. His words were ringing in her ears. She couldn't think, let alone reply.

"Is he hurting you?" He asked. "You can tell me"

She couldn't do it, her thoughts were screaming at her to run, instinctively she jumped to her feet, the force of which made the chair crash to the floor. She went to leave the room, but Dom stood so that he blocked her path.

"He is isn't he?" He took hold of her shoulders.

"Let go of me!" Chloe shouted.

"Tell me I'm wrong" He moved his head so that he was looking in her eyes, he couldn't help but be reminded of his own experiences with Isaac. Her broken but in denial look in her eyes broke his heart.

"Please" Chloe pleaded. She couldn't breathe. With every second that she was in the room, her chest became tighter and tighter. All she could do was shake her head in the hope that he would allow her to leave the room.

He let go of her but didn't move. "Let us help you"

"Just move" She told him, gasping for air.

"We want to help. I want to help"

"NO" She shouted, she pushed past him and headed straight to the door. Her shaking hands fumbled with the lock. "Just let me out of this room please"

"Chloe it's ok, you're safe with me"

"I can't breathe, just let me out" She was crying. "Please don't do this. Please"

Seeing her in such a state broke his heart, he had upset her. "I'm sorry" Dom told her, now regretting his decision and quickly went over to unlock the door. He watched as she ran straight out of the room and headed for the stairs that led out of the ward, he had to fix this and decided to go after her. "Chloe wait"

"Just leave me alone" She told him, tears running down her face. She needed to get out of here now!

Dom decided not to follow her and instead watched as she ran off from him, he knew that by following her after what had just happened would make the already terrible situation even more awful. He was so angry at himself, he had only wanted to help her, and he'd just made things worse.

...

"How did it go?" Ange was waiting for him as he returned to the ward.

The desperate expression on his face answered her question instantly. Ange was worried, "What happened?"

"I'm sorry" He tried to hold back his own tears as the adrenaline that had previously been flowing through his system disappeared. "I just wanted to help her".

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: So... it's been a while. Sorry! Things have been busy and if I'm completely honest I was struggling with the whole creative part of writing (which is kind of the main thing you need, so it's been interesting). I guess it could be considered writer's block, but I don't really consider myself a writer so there's that. Anyway, I'm waffling so much that I was tempted to put a warning that this should come with a side of maple syrup, *insert that monkey hiding behind its hands emoji here*. I'm hoping that over the next week or so I'll get back on track with both writing/uploading but with me back at University at the end of September I don't know if it'll happen or if it does, how long it'll last, so I'm not making any promises. I honestly am relating to James Acaster's mood on GBBO right now; started it, had a breakdown and here you go, it is what it is *shrugs*. I hope it's not awful.


	4. Chapter 4

Chloe could not breathe. The only thing she could make sense of was how much she needed to get out of the hospital. She swung the corridor door open, the action reminding her of how disconnected her hands felt from the rest of her body, as the darkness from the walls was replaced with the bright light of the reception area she calmed slightly, it felt more open and less like the walls were constricting her. Her quick exit was interrupted as she crashed into someone, who it was she didn't know, and she was wasn't about to stop to find out, instead she forced out a mumbled apology before replacing the quick walk with a run.

"Miss Godard is everything ok?" A concerned looking Henrik Hansen asked after the young doctor had bumped into him as he walked into the reception area with young Oskar in tow. He looked towards Carole with a somewhat bewildered expression. His short-lived interaction, if he could call it that, with the young doctor had confused him, he didn't get a long look at her facial expression, but he could tell she was very upset. After he felt a small tug on his hand he looked down at his grandson, who looked back up at him, a concerned look on the young boy's face, wordlessly he gave Oskar's hand a gentle reassuring squeeze as they walked towards the reception desk to speak to Carole.

"Is everything ok?" He asked her, Carole's attention had been focused on Chloe and she looked concerned.

She shook her head. "She has a lot going on" she told him, not wanting to overshare or get Chloe in any trouble.

"One of us should probably go and see if she needs anything" Henrik pointed out, he couldn't help but hope that Carole would offer to go, this sort of thing wasn't exactly something he felt that he was good at dealing with.

"I'll go" Carole said before walking around the desk.

"Thank you" He was relieved, he watched as Carole walked out of the door before turning his attention back to the young boy holding his hand.

"Far Far, why was that girl sad?" He asked.

Henrik knelt down so that he was a similar height to Oskar. "I'm not too sure, but Carole has gone to go see if she needs any help"

Oskar nodded, accepting what his Far Far had told him. "It's good that Carole went to help her, we have to help our friends"

"We definitely do" He couldn't help but smile warmly at the wisdom of his grandson.

"Are you going to help her too?" Oskar quizzed him, with an expectant tone.

"Yes. I will do my best" Henrik promised.

"Do I have to go to the creche Far Far?" He objected.

"Just for a short while" He told him with a fond smile.

"But I want to work with you and be a doctor"

Henrik's smile grew bigger "I'd love nothing more than that, but first, you'll need to go to school, creche even, and learn lots of things"

"I need to go now then!" Oskar's previous objections had now subsided, and he took his grandfather's hand and pulled him until he stood up before dragging him in the direction of the creche.

...

Carole walked around outside, checking all the places she could think of, she started in the peace garden before checking round the side of the building where she knew Ange frequented when she was in need of a nicotine break and even scanning the car park, all with no avail. She had just about given up all hope and went to go back inside when she spotted a hunched over figure leaning against one of the concrete pillars. "Chloe?" She inquired gently as she stepped closer to the person.

The person's head looked up quickly, their eyes wide with panic but also displaying pure heartache. Carole's own heart tugged in empathy as she knelt down next to the person, she now clearly recognised to be Chloe. "It's ok, it's me. Carole. You don't need to panic, you're safe with me sweetheart" The older woman tried hard not to let her voice waver or shake as she spoke, she was very concerned now, she had never seen the youngest Godard in such a state, and it worried her immensely. "Do you want me to get your Mum?"

"No!" Chloe was defensive and wiped the tears away angrily. "Wait- I-I don't know" she stuttered, her mind felt heavy and the whole idea of thinking logically about what she wanted or needed at that moment felt impossible.

"I can go find Dom instead?" Carole offered as an alternative.

"No" This was a definite. Chloe couldn't face the idea of having to see Dom right now, especially after what had just happened, the familiar panic began to rise again as unclear flashes of her interaction with her half-brother passed through her thoughts.

"Ok" Carole was confused but something was telling her not to press the matter. She thought for a moment, unsure of what to do. "Do you want to be alone?"

"Please stay" Chloe spoke timidly, she had all sorts of thoughts running through her mind right now and she knew that being alone would make these thoughts worse.

"I can stay" Carole's tone was soft but certain, "Shall we go inside where it's warmer?"

Chloe looked up at Carole, their eyes met, Chloe could see the concern in Carole's expression, and it confused her. Why did she care? Why was she offering to help her? "Why?" Chloe asked, not really knowing this thought had been vocalised.

"Why what sweetheart?" Carole was unsure.

"Why do you care?" Chloe asked her, "It's not like anyone else does" She added as an afterthought.

"Because you are family" Carole told her firmly.

"Hardly" Chloe responded, feeling guilty when she saw the look of pain that Carole tried to hide. "I mean, me and Dom don't even have the same father, so we're barely related anyway" She told her, spitting the word father as if it was poisoned.

"Even if we're not technically family, you're still part of the family here, and that means something" Carole was firm with her response "We help each other out, that's how it is here. Come on love, please let's go inside" Carole stood and held her hand out to Chloe, who somewhat reluctantly accepted it and got up to her feet. The older woman put a comforting and guiding arm around Chloe, who instinctively flinched but relaxed when she remembered who it. "I've got you, you're safe" Carole told her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: I know I'm shocked I uploaded too! I'd written this chapter at the same time as the previous one, with only editing left to do I didn't expect it to take so long to upload, but I've been having some Henrik and Oskar withdrawals and couldn't help but sneak a little snippet of these two into the chapter.
> 
> If I'm completely honest I'm not 100% sure where to take this next, so any suggestions will be massively appreciated.
> 
> Anyway, thanks for reading and bearing with me. Love, Nat :)

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: So I have been playing around with this for a while. I'm planning for it to either be a two or three chapter fic but that could change as I go. Also, big thank you to Becky for helping me with the title. If it hadn't had been for your help I was going along with Holby's example of 'Pigeon' and was about to dig out my Nan's birdwatching encyclopedia 😀.
> 
> As always, any reviews or suggestions would be really appreciated. Love, Nat x


End file.
